1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing prescription services. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing prescription, prescription refill, transcription, and forwarding services using voice recognition software and associated computer hardware.
2. Related Art
In the medical profession, doctors and other medical personnel frequently prescribe drugs and other medicines for their patients. Traditionally, such prescriptions are recorded by the doctor on paper, and are given to the patient for filling at a local pharmacy. Additionally, doctors frequently call pharmacies to place prescriptions, which may later be picked up by the patient. Both written and telephonic prescriptions require the prescribing doctor or the pharmacy to write down prescription information, thereby delaying the refill process and requiring time and effort on the part of such personnel. Further, the refill process is hindered by transcription errors that may occur when pharmacy personnel transcribe a doctor""s telephoned prescription, or when the pharmacist is required to read a doctor""s unintelligible handwriting. Finally, when prescriptions are manually transcribed, there is no efficient way for a doctor to review a prescription once it has been recorded by the pharmacy.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system for receiving prescriptions from a caller over a telephone, transcribing same, and transmitting textual prescription information to pharmacies. Further, it would be desirable to provide a system for transmitting confirmation information to a doctor or medical facility, and which allows the caller to quickly and efficiently review prescription information.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus having voice recognition capabilities for receiving, transcribing, and forwarding prescriptions to pharmacies for filling.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus wherein prescriptions can be received from a doctor or medical personnel over a telephone and using voice recognition techniques, the prescription being transcribed and transmitted to a pharmacy for filling.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus wherein prescriptions can be transcribed and transmitted back to a doctor or medical facility for confirmation or review prior to transmission to a pharmacy for filling.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus wherein prescriptions can be stored centrally or locally, and later retrieved.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus wherein a caller can be prompted to provide prescription information through customized, audible menus that can be accessed by a telephone.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a voice recognition prescription services system that can be customized to include a variety of audible prompts.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a voice recognition prescription services system that can receive prescriptions from telephone calls from doctors.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a prescription services system that can receive prescriptions forwarded from a pharmacy telephone number, unbeknownst to a caller.
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing prescription services using voice recognition. Doctors or other medical personnel can call a voice recognition prescription services system using a standard telephonic connection. The prescription services system prompts the caller to provide prescription information using a variety of customizable, user-friendly, and audible prompts and menus. The doctor can call the prescription services system directly, or can call a pharmacy telephone number, wherein the call can then be forwarded, unbeknownst to the caller, to the prescription services system. The caller can provide spoken prescription information, and can review, confirm, and edit the information provided prior to or after transcription. Once the prescription information has been provided by the caller, the prescription services system transcribes the prescription information into a textual format using voice recognition procedures. Both the voice prescription information and the transcribed prescriptions can be stored in the prescription system for later retrieval and review by the caller. The transcribed prescriptions can then be sent to the pharmacy for processing. Additionally, the transcribed prescriptions can be sent to the doctor or medical facility for confirmation, review, and record keeping purposes.